Internal-combustion engine piston



Feb. 25,] 930. v 'w, souus 1,748,525

:INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE PISTON Filed Na 23, 1927 s Sheets-Sheet 1 IN VEN TOR.

Feb. 25, 1930. I sows 1,748,525

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE PISTON I File w 25. 1927 I 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V EN TOR. I

Feb. 25, 1930. w. 'r. souLls INTERNAL couausnou ENGINE PIs'rou 5 Shets-Sheet 3 Filed llay 2:5, 927

F769 INVENTOK am I F b-25.19am w. T. souus 1,148,525

INTERNAL CQMBUSTIQN ENGINE PISTON Filed Kay 23, 192'! 5, Sheets-Sheet 4 IN VEN TOR.

'Feb. 25, 1930. w. T; souus 1,748,525

INTERNAL COMBUSTION ENGINE PISTON Filed May 25, 1927 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTQR.

' v I engine'cylincler walls I v size. Var1ous attempts have been'made to reside in v to obtainfthe' maximum engine Patented Feb.v 2:5,

WILBUR' r. so uztrs, or na's'ron,

rnnnsvtvan'm' I In'rEnnA -coMBns'rIoN ENGINE PISTON At mtar med Ma -'23;

i i The present in ventionrelates generally ciency of internal combustion engines in which my invention is embodied will be 'materi'allylincreased. f V i f I i i As-is well known, the weight of, the cast iron pistons now generally employed in internal combustion engines has long been recognized byl automotive engineers asa serious factor in retarding the development ofhigh 15 speed engines'of that type. In; the running I [of thecast iron pistonsgxconsiderable power mustnec'essarily be consumed infovercomin'g their inertia ,for. the amount of fuel consume'dl Furthermore, excessive weight of the' piston causes unnecessary vibration and paturally increases the Wear'on the T *partsof'the engine'structure. Also, when aluminum or aluminum alloy pistons are; used the expansion of the cylinder walls is I? 2 so great that the piston cannot be fitted to limits close enough to func'tio'n'well mechani-f cally or to prevent oil pumping, loss of com;

pression or the noisy slap of the piston against "the cylinder wall. Also-the wear on the p ston'isfso great that the life of an aluminum ston 1s only a fraction 'of that of 'a'pi'ston I macleof iron or other metals whose Wearing qualities are good. Also the aluminum 'pisv 1 ton" will embed any foreign substance inits -walls causing the. pistonto charge, andlap it the cylinderwalls which in turn will wearthe out of round-and overovercome these andthose disadvantages which the use of iron and aluminum alloy pistons, by 'producing pistons' of steel, or a cast metal such as aluminum or an aluminum alloy. These efforts, however, have been I rnainlyunsu'cces'sful from a practical view? jpoint, owing to the difliculties involved in. 1 production and in obtaining a structure possessingfthe proper coeflicien't' o ffexpansion' relatively to thewall 'of the'engine cylinder, performance" under varying loads andiconditions of'operation'if It has also been found that where the cooperating r 1927., Serial No. 193,458. a

excessive. a v The general object of this invention, there fore, is to increase the,eHiciencyofQinternal combustion engines byreducing the weight piston is madeof aluminumf theskirt wear is 1.

and vibration and the wear incident thereto on the cooperating parts, also to construct an internal combustion engine piston ofalu'mi- 'num or some light weightunetal with-high thermal conductivity having cast or molded or made'lnte ralftherewith a metal member of lower coehicientofexpansion ithttwvillf prevent the excessive expansion of'the piston when heated in an engine, obtain ling in-: creased power and speed, reducing the fuel consumption and securing agreater rangeof flexibility or operation. A186 tohave-castin-i tegralwith the piston wall'sw'earing' members;

which are held in place 1during' t he'lcastingf of the piston proper by attaching these we r;

vious'to the casting of thi'sassembled unit in mg members to the expans on membenfpre V the piStoniproper, More spe'cifically',.the' ob ject of this invention isto provide a'pi'st'on for internalcombustion engines and amethod of constructingthe samewhereby theg eneralobjects above set forth may be attained.

A further object of my invention resid'es in the provision of a piston for internal combus ti'on enginesiby practicing of my method of construction; which is formed or: built up of" twojor more metals possessing diiferentcharacteristics', such, for instance, as steel, cast iron and aluminum, wher-ein 'the a'dvanta es;- inherent to each metal may be utilized, or the production "of a composite strucutre possessing qualities which could" notfbeio'bs;

tained by the, use otoneor the oth f metals separately. I i

My invention also contemplates an .3

possess all the advantages ofa piston of-a combustion'eng ne piston as heretofore .de 1

may be jr'nadeupgof'steetandv Other objects and advantages of the em-v ployment of my invention will become obvious as the description proceeds, and I would have it understood that I reserve unto myself the full range of equivalents in structure and uses, to which I may be entitled under my invention in its broadest aspect.

I shall now proceed to describe my invention with reference to the accompanying I drawings, wherein I have illustrated certain preferred embodiments for the purpose of presenting a clear and comprehensive disclosure, it being obvious that my inventlon is susceptible of taking other forms without departing from the scope and spirit thereof. Fig. 1 is an elevation, in section, taken through the wrist pin boss at AA, of a practical form of my invention embodying a wire'mesh with knobs or rings or segments or buttons of any shape or size inserted in or attached thereto, by heading over, bending over or by a spot weld, which is cast in the skirt of the piston.

Fig. 2 is an elevation in section of a practical form of my invention, taken througha portion other than at the wrist'pin boss,

Fig. 3 is a plan, in section taken through the wrist pin bosses at C-C.

Fig. 4 is an elevation of the metal insert with knobs or. buttons attached thereto@ Fig. 5 is an elevation of Fig. 4.

Fig.-6.is a View showing a form of button which may be attached to the reinforcing 1 member.

Fig.7 is'a view showing another form of button-or knob which may be attached to the reinforcing member.

' Fig. 8 is a view showing another formof button which may be attached to the reinforcing member.

through which the metal flows and also into which the buttons or rivets may be attached. Fig.- IO is an elevation through D-E of Fig. 11 showing a section of the piston through a section at a point different other than at the wrist pin boss.

Fig. 11 is a plan partly in section showing the cast in reinforcing member buttons and the holes in the reinforcing member in the head.

' Fig. 12 is another form of reinforcing member with projections thereon to act as the wearing surface in place of the buttons when cast in the piston proper.

Fig. 13 is a planof Fig. 12 showing holes in the head portion. 7

Fig. 14 is another form of reinforcing member with bearings and segments attached thereto.

Fig. 15 is aplan view of Fig. 14.

Referring now to the drawings in detail in whichlike'characters of reference are employed to designate similar parts throughout the several views, 2, shown in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2 and Fig. 3, indicates apiston body consisting of a light cast metal such as alumi num or aluminum alloy with a wire mesh reinforcing member 3 with bearing knobs or buttons 4 cast integrally with the piston proper, after which the surfaces of the piston are machinedto form the ringgrooves and the bearing surface. 5 shows the wrist pin' bosses cast integral with the piston proper. In Figs. 4 and 5 are shown the reinforcing member 3 with the bearing members 4 atta'ched'to the reinforcing member 3 by spot welding shown in Fig. '8 at 5 bending over or looking in as shown at Fig. 7 at 6 heading over as shown at Fig. 6 at 7.

8 in Fig. 9 indicates a'piston body of another type of construction showing cast in re inforcingmeinber 9 shown in Fig. 9, Fig. 10 and Fig. 11, with the buttons 10 attached to reinforcing member 9 and cast integral with the piston proper 8f 11 indicates the wrist pin bosses cast integral With the piston proper 8. r

12 shown in Fig. 1-2 and Fig. 13, indicates the reinforcing member made of a thin shell with projections formed on its surface shown at 13 and 14, to form thewearing surface. 15 indicates a hole in the reinforcing member to allow the wrist pin hole to be cast or drilled without cuttingthe shel-l12. I

16 shown in Fig. 14 and Fig. 15, shows a wire mesh reinforcing member with bearing rings 19' and 17 with segments 18 attached thereto.

It is manifest that in some instances of construction it may be desirable to modify theshape of the reinforcement member or to-modify the shape and size or number or'spacing of the bearing buttons, rings or-segments. It is obvious that if the reinforcing member be of a lower coefficient of expansion than the piston skirt or head section it will hold the aluminum or aluminum alloy from'ex'pa'n'r sion due to the heat of combustionw'hile the bearing buttons, or rings will be of' a metal I of better bearing qualities than the piston proper will give a long life to the'piston. Iclaim: i i

'1. An internal combustion engine piston comprising; arelatively light body of cast metal, a perforate metallic reinforcing member with spaced wearing elements attached thereto, wrist pin bosses, a head having a- I. v space where packing ring grooves are cut, all. of which arepermanently united by casting. I 2. An internal combustion engine piston I comprising .a relatively light body of cast 1 metal, a perforate metallicreinforcing member embeddedtherein, spaced wearing members attached to said reinforcing member, wrist pin bosses, a head havinga space where packing ring groovesare cut all of hich'ar'e Y permanently. united by casting.

3. An internal combustion engine piston" composed of a bodyof light metal of rela-' tively high coeflicient of thermal expansion, a perforate metallic member of lower coeificient of thermal expansion than saidsbody and molded'therein, spacedfwearing means attached to the perforate member, all of which I are'cast together. 7 i 4:. The combination of alight weight inter- -'-nal combustion engine piston, with, a cylin drical perforate metallic reinforcing member embedded vwithin the walls of the piston, spaced wearing members attached to the reinforcing member and extending to the outer 1 alls of the piston, the reinforcing member 1 and the spaced wearing members being united with the piston in casting. I a '5. The combination of an internal combustion engine piston body composed of a light 1 metal, with a cylindrical perforate metallic reinforcing member embedded Within the walls of the piston, spaced wearing members 7 jattached to the reinforcing member and'ex-' 1 tendingito the outer walls of thepiston, said "reinforcing member and wearing members :1 1 7 composed of a metal having diiferent charac- 5 teristicsthan that 'of the piston body. and V unitedwith the piston body incasting.

*6. An internal combustion engine piston, comprisi'ng a headhaving a space where packfing'ring grooves are cut, wrist pin bosses and 5h ,body'portion," all formedof a relatively light metal; aicylindrical perforate metallic rei-nv vforcing member open at both ends and em- Ibedded inthe body portion, spaced wearing buttons attached tothe reinforcing member I grand extending outwardly tovthe surface of the I unitedb-y casting.

6 :body portion, all of, which are permanently ILB R SOULIS. 

